Notebook: Why Ray Lewis chose his daughter as presenter

Steve Doerschuk CantonRep.com sports writer @sdoerschukREP

Thursday

Aug 2, 2018 at 7:00 AM

Checking up on Ray Lewis' kids. Rex Ryan got upset with the Hall of Famer during (and perhaps leading to) a 13-3 season. NFL's most-hated players poll. Multiple winners of NFL defensive player of the year award. More.

Ray Lewis chose a road less traveled to his Hall of Fame presenter, selecting his daughter, Diaymon.

Daughters also presented John Elway in 2004, Warren Sapp in 2013, Claude Humphrey in 2014, Junior Seau in 2015 and Eddie DeBartolo in 2016. Lewis' Class of 2018 teammate Jerry Kramer also will be presented by a daughter.

- Lewis' son Ray Lewis III followed in his father's footsteps to the University of Miami. After never playing a down for the Hurricanes under head coach Al Golden, he transferred to Coastal Carolina, where his career stalled amid a suspension. NFL Draft Scout listed him as a 5-foot-9 1/8, 190-pound cornerback in 2017, but he wasn't in the draft. He wound up playing last year at Virginia Union.

He made 11 tackles in a game against Elizabeth City late last October.

- Another son, Rayshad Lewis, is a 5-foot-10, 165-pound wide receiver at Maryland.

Rayshad played as a freshman at Utah State, catching 40 passes for 476 yards. He transferred to Maryland after the season, sitting out 2017.

Rayshad Lewis and the Terrapins are scheduled to play at Bowling Green Sept. 8 and against Ohio State Nov. 17.

Ray Lewis enrolled at Maryland midway through his Baltimore Ravens career and earned a bachelor's degree in 2004.

Orlando "Zeus" Brown was a gargantuan offensive tackle who broke through as a starter for the Cleveland Browns in their playoff season of 1994. The team moved to Baltimore in 1996, and Brown went with it, soon meeting the rookie draft pick Lewis.

"Zeus" was back in Cleveland as a break-the-bank free agent in 1999, but his return lasted just a season. He suffered a serious injury while getting hit in the eye by a penalty flag thrown by referee Jeff Triplette.

Brown was out of the NFL for three years before an old friend, Ozzie Newsome, recalled him to Baltimore, where he played through 2005.

Brown was 43 when he was found dead in 2013, the victim of an illness related to diabetes.

"I just saw him a few days ago," Lewis said upon hearing the news. "He was one of the greatest men I know, really a gentle giant away from the game. He was the original Raven. He set the tone for how we were going to play."

Newsome was a rising Browns personnel man when the team acquired "Zeus" as an undrafted rookie.

Newsome's final draft for Baltimore was this year's. He chose Orlando Brown Jr. in the third round.

RAY AND REX

Ray Lewis' opinionated style got him in some arguments.

One was with Rex Ryan, who was defensive coordinator in 2006 when an injured Lewis complained about the defensive tackles being too small.

"The way he said it, it appeared he was questioning his teammates and questioning the scheme," Ryan said at the time. "As a coach, I could sit here and lie and say we'll let that fly under the rug, but that's not how we operate.

"Hopefully, we'll get Ray back with his teammates and we'll pull that rope in the same direction."

Their little encounter seemed to turn into a helpful distraction. The week Lewis returned from a two-game absence, the Ravens blasted Pittsburgh 27-0. In a rematch four weeks later, on Christmas Eve, Lewis stood out in a 31-7 win at Pittsburgh. It turned out to be Bill Cowher's last home game in 15 years as the Steelers' head coach.

The Ravens finished 13-3, the best regular season in the franchise's 22-year history. With Lewis on the team, the Ravens were 12-4 three times: in 2000 (the defensive coordinator was Marvin Lewis), 2010 (Greg Mattison) and 2011 (Chuck Pagano).

'40 MOST HATED'

Early this year, Sporting News compiled a list of the NFL's "40 most hated players of all-time."

Lewis, Owens and Moss all are part of the Hall of Fame's Class of 2018.

EVOLUTION OF DANCE

In January of 2013, before a playoff game against the Colts, Ray Lewis' teammates gathered at the goal line to watch him come out of the tunnel for the last time.

Lewis performed his final entry ritual, later explaining where it began after a 24-9 win.

"One time, they got ready to introduce the defense, and they were going to introduce us together," Lewis said. "This guy in my hometown, Kirby Lee, would always do this dance, which was called 'The Squirrel.' And I told him I was gonna do the dance one day. He was like, 'You're not gonna do it.' I was like, 'I'm gonna do it.'

"After I did it the first time, they were like, 'We've got to see the dance again.' So it just kept going."

HARD ROAD TO CANTON

Ozzie Newsome, who drafted Lewis, exemplifies how hard it can be for a franchise to select even one Hall of Famer.

The original Browns snagged Paul Warfield and Leroy Kelly in 1964 and didn't draft another until plucking Newsome in 1978. By the time they drafted another, it was 1996, Newsome was doing the drafting, they weren't the Browns any more, and it wasn't one, but two, Jonathan Ogden and Lewis.

SIX OF A KIND

Ray Lewis is among six players to be named NFL Defensive Player of the Year more than once (the award first was presented in 1971 to Canton's Alan Page of the Vikings):

There have been two three-time winners, Lawrence Taylor of the Giants (1981, 1982, 1986) and J.J. Watt of the Texans (2012, 2014, 2015).

Two-time winners have been Joe Greene of the Steelers (1972, 1974), Mike Singletary of the Bears (1985, 1988), Reggie White of the Eagles (1987) and Packers (1988), and Lewis (2000, 2003).

SPEAKING OF LEWIS

- Peyton Manning late in Lewis' final season, 2012: "Ray's a tremendous player with a tremendous passion and that has not changed a bit since I first played against him in 1998. That's pretty impressive for a guy in his 17th year."

- Then-Baltimore head coach Brian Billick in 2006: "Ray is the most naturally dynamic leader I've ever been around."

- Mike Singletary on a stint as Lewis' position coach in 2003 and '04: "I was seeing everything I missed. Only a few guys play the game with their hearts and souls."

EXTRA POINTS

- Lewis and Cleveland Browns icon Jim Brown both were in Trump Tower in New York on Dec. 13, 2016, to discuss social issues with President-elect Donald Trump.

- Lewis was runner-up for the Butkus Award (nation's best college linebacker) in 1995. The winner was Kevin Hardy of Illinois. Hardy became the No. 2 overall pick (Jaguars) in the draft in which Lewis was picked 26th. Hardy's career stretched across nine seasons with Jacksonville, Dallas and Cincinnati. He was named to one Pro Bowl.

- Lions running back Barry Sanders' final game as a Hall of Fame running back was against Lewis' Ravens. Sanders ran 19 times for 41 yards, giving him 1,491 yards for the 1998 season.

- Lewis was on the cover of the Madden video game in 2005, when he became part of "the Madden curse." He lost 11 games to injuries and recorded a career-low 46 tackles.

- Election to the Hall of Fame isn't Lewis' first brush with Canton. But not THAT Canton. Lewis owned Full Moon Bar-B-Que, which operated in Baltimore's Canton neighborhood from 2005-08.

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